Tuesday, July 15, 2014

iPhone Maker Foxconn Doubling Wages to 2 Cents Hourly

SHANGHAI, China — (TYDN) Foxconn, the maker of Apple products like the iPhone and iPad, is doubling assembly line workers' wages, from 1 cent an hour to 2 cents, TheYellowDailyNews has learned.

It was the fourth time in as many years that Foxconn has doubled wages for the company's 1 million sweatshop workers.

"This 100 percent wage increase should make lives less miserable for our assembly line workers," Apple chief Tim Cook said in an exclusive interview with TheYellowDailyNews. "We would expect the suicide rate among our workers now to taper off, too."

Human rights group immediately applauded Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple's move to demand the wage increase, saying that Apple was a leader in the sector and urged other companies to bump wages at their sweat shops, too. Financial analysts, however, decried the move, saying Apple's massive profits should be put to better use in the form of dividends to shareholders.

"This public relations move by Apple simply shocks the conscience," JP Morgan Chase analyst Chip Downers said in an exclusive interview with TheYellowDailyNews. "I mean, how does paying workers more help shareholders?"

Human Rights Watch was ecstatic with the decision.

"Foxconn workers are now making financial inroads," the New York-based group said in an exclusive statement to TheYellowDailyNews. "This reduces from 20 years to 10 years the necessary labor required for a worker to purchase a product they are making."

The tech-heavy NASDAQ composite index was trading down more than 2 percent following the announcement amid fears the sector would follow Apple's move. Apple's shares were mixed.